INFANTICIDE AND MATERNAL DEFENSE IN THE WOOD MOUSE APODEMUS-SYLVATICUS

Adult wood mice were tested in cages for their responses to single new born pups and mothers of newbom litters were tested for their ability to protect litters from other adults. There was no difference in infan ticidal tendencies of virgin male or females, however, males housed wi th perforate females were less infanticidal than those with non-perfor ate females. Mothers of litters were unable to prevent infanticidal in truder males entering the nest but could exclude females. These data a re discussed with reference to the social organization and studies on population regulation of wood mice.